Twilight apparently didn’t want to leave things up to any of the existing publishing houses, the day after they got back she started working on starting a new publishing house. Cadance and Shining reported no problems when they got back; they would lead Daring the clearing when she was ready to go and see it. As predicted, Spike and Flurry had gotten into the “command center” thing so intensely they were using code words and phrases until they fell asleep, and kept going half the night judging by the way Spike was talking in his sleep.

Twilight had told Daring she had recorded everything from the moment she started to hear Holly’s approach to just after they returned home. She said after the Ministry did a little house cleaning she would turn over the recording she took. Looked like Twilight had good business instincts, that would help her with her latest project. Of course, Daring had a mission given to her that she needed to follow.

Granted, said mission was resurrecting worship of an ancient draconic deity but it would be a nice change of focus for Daring, and the side benefits were more than worth any discomfort. A youthful body, sexy figure, and extra abilities not really seen amongst non-unicorns, and there were all really significant benefits. Keeping her athletic build, which was attained through years of treasure hunting, was also a nice touch.

Daring was checking her supplies; she was already showered and dressed. Daring anticipated moving through some underbrush, so she had opted to go with shorts and a black t-shirt, which bore both her mark and that of Zelshirska. Rarity decided to add the dragon goddess’s mark to some of Daring’s new casual attire, babbling something about aesthetics when she passed the new attire to Daring.

Rarity’s daughter had an expressed interest in both trying the faith and living in the new community; Rarity tried shooting down both by expressing she was still in primary school. It seemed Rarity was in a losing battle with her own daughter about what was best for the filly, the ivory unicorn mare was convinced her daughter wasn’t old enough to make her own proper decisions, only to get a shot in the heart (figuratively) from her daughter when she pointed out how her own mother was at least a year younger than her when she discovered her talent and dedicated her pursuits towards fashion. A grumbling Rarity was far more amusing to Daring than she was willing to openly admit.

Daring’s bag was old and worn, and chances are it would spill the contents inside any day now. She was actually checking to see how everything fit during her inventory when Aubretia Glide came in and placed a much more beautiful looking bag on top of Daring’s old one. “Mom noticed your bag was threatening to fall apart almost any day now,” said Aubretia, “she decided to make it both functional and fashionable, with greater internal storage capacity.”

“How did she do that,” Inquired Daring.

“She used the same kind of material as your clothes, in addition to making it forty-five percent larger than your current bag. She wants to make sure you don’t end up misrepresenting; she says it would likely ruin your mission efforts.”

Daring took a look at the new bag; it had her mark on the lower section with Zelshirska’s mark acting as a clasp. A feel of the metal told her it was brass but had been polished to the point it was almost like gold. Daring gave a tiny smile and said, “Tell Rarity I am appreciative and will do my best to make sure its condition isn’t ruined too much.”

“Will do,” said Aubretia.

“Looks like I’ll have to repack,” continued Daring, then jokingly said, “give your mom a good sock in the shoulder for me and tell her it’s from me when you get the chance.”

“You got it,” said Aubretia before she skipped out of the complex.

******************************

It was almost a half hour later, and Daring managed to move all her things into the new bag, when Spike walked in to see her just finishing up. He thanked everything in the heavens when he caught a glimpse of Daring’s Valentine heart shaped rear as she bent over from a standing position to pick up her old bag.

Daring turned around with a smirk that told him she was well aware of that little viewing she had given him, Spike really felt like he gotten busted with his hand in the cookie jar.

In a desperate attempt to pull focus away from him he said, “Do you have everything you know you’ll need?”

“I’m pretty sure,” said Daring, “and I also packed a few things I think I might require as well. Do you have everything you need?”

“Yep, and reminded Twilight you wanted to get Fluttershy for this little excursion, care to explain that one?”

“I have a suspicion,” said Daring, which sounded a little cryptic, “so, I want to prepare for as much as possible. Besides, we might require Fluttershy’s abilities for this endeavor. Not much is genuinely recorded about the Weald, everything I’ve managed to unearth is more rumor than anything else. And Twilight’s library wasn’t much help, almost none of her resources talked about mentioned the Weald.”

“At least we have some recorded information about the Everfree Forest,” said Twilight as she came in, “the fact there’s a woodland with no actual recorded data on it is as disconcerting as it is fascinating. The town you’re trying to build could also act a waypoint for studying the area as well; I just wish we knew more about the place. Well, I’m off to see what I can do about bringing Flutters along.”

“I’m sure she won’t take much convincing,” said Daring with a smirk as she secured her bag, “she did say she likes meeting new animals, and we really don’t know what kind of wildlife the Weald has. With a little luck, she’ll meet some new animals she hasn’t seen anywhere else. I just hope, that if she does, they’re non-hostile toward us.”

“I’ll be sure to pass along your message about the wildlife in the area to Fluttershy,” said Twilight, “after all, you are right about her and new animals. Spike, are you all prepped for the trip?”

“I’m pretty sure I don’t need a whole lot,” said Spike, “just a few changes of clothes and a handful of spare writing utensils for everyone.”

“Well, I might need some spare drawing paper, pencils, pens, quills, ink, a sharpening tool, extra rope, maybe a grappling hook, and we’ll all need some snacks and drinks,” said Daring as she ticked off everything. “We might be out there for a while and you did volunteer to carry the spares along with everything you’re packing for the trip. Not to mention, since I will be doing some rough sketches of what the starting complexes for the town could be like, I could really do with my partner carrying some spare materials for all that.”

“Oh no,” said Spike playfully, “I think I just married a variant of my sister, this is sounding decidedly less fun.”

“There’s nothing wrong with having an organized pony around to keep you on track,” said Twilight with a giggle.

Spike figured Twilight was recalling the first time she spent Nightmare Night as Daring Do, but that was when he was newly hatched, so he didn’t remember that time very well.

****************************************

One train ride later got Daring, along with Spike and Twilight and Fluttershy, meeting Cadance, Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart to take them the rest of the way. This had mostly to do with the fact the Weald didn’t have any tracks or stations close enough to it to just get out and go, something Daring knew that the princesses were likely discussing and would welcome input from Daring herself.

The hike itself took a few hours; something Daring was very used to thanks to her prior occupation. Spike, Twilight, and Flurry not so much. The fliers weren’t permitted to fly, mostly because they needed to know the path from the ground. They would probably need to find a right place for the train station during the planning stage for the town. Daring noticed she had a lot to do, but was excited for the challenge more than anything else. Everyone was dressed for the hike in proper attire, even if Daring, Fluttershy, and Cadance had their shirts seeming like they was threatening to come apart around their bosoms.

After about two and a half hours of hiking, during which everyone other than Daring and Shining Armor needed to have a few short stops to rest, they finally arrived at the clearing Cadance and Shining Armor had found. To the surprise of Daring, Spike, Fluttershy and Twilight it was big enough to hold a community the size of Ponyville, maybe a bit larger.

Daring decided it was time to test a theory, one she hadn’t shared her thoughts on with anyone there. It was time to see what was really going on in the Weald. Daring reached into one of the additional bags she had insisted Spike bring along and pulled out some pieces of a tool that once fully assembled, from the three sections it was composed of, showed itself to be a long-handled ax, with only one sharp end. She then passed it to Spike and said, “You’re physically the strongest here, how about you do the honors of helping us find out what is happening around here. Just pick a tree and swing. If Twilight and Cadance wouldn’t mind, could you put up a magical net to catch anything that isn’t those of us here? Prince Consort Shining Armor…”

“Please don’t use my full title, just call me ‘Shining Armor’ or ‘Shining’ from now on,” Shining replied in a way that cut Daring off.

“Shining, if you would prep to contain anything we catch in the magical net, that would most appreciated. Fluttershy, the reason you were asked to join us is to assist in dealing with any creatures that might crop up during this time.”

“Oh, I’m always happy to help,” said Fluttershy, “and I’m delighted you asked me to come along to help with this.”

“So, you suspect the problems that you found about this place might have to do with some of the animals that call this place home,” said Twilight, “care to share further before we continue?”

“I think it has to do with a certain creature that has a reputation for being hardly seen while also causing problems with equipment,” replied Daring, “hence why Spike is holding a collapsible ax. Twilight, if you would be so kind to put a tracking spell on the each of the ax’s pieces, it would be most appreciated.”

“Of course,” said Twilight, “before we go further we need to see what the deal with the Weald is.” With that, she cast her tracking spell on each of the pieces of the ax. Then she and Cadance cast their magical ‘net’ with Twilight placing something similar in the air around them and Cadance extending it a few feet into the ground.

“Alright,” said Cadance, “think we’re ready. Is everyone ready?”

“Always,” said Shining, “this mystery has gone on far too long!”

Daring motioned to Spike that he could continue, he took his position at a tree a few feet away and gave a mighty swing, the moment his swing connected with the tree the ax was missing its head. Looking around they couldn’t see any sign of where the ax head was. Twilight lit up her tracking spell and led the way towards what might be their quarry.

After about a half hour of following spell in an eastward direction, they came to what looked like an undisturbed tree in the middle of the forest. Daring reached into her bag and produced a trenching shovel, the moment it was out of her bag Twilight placed another of her tracking spells on it. When Daring went to dig the shovel’s head disappeared from her tool before it even had a chance to delve into the earth. Twilight lit up her spell on the shovel and found her intended target three feet from the tree they were standing by, but not in a visible location.

The fact there was a creature that could slip through the magical nets cast by two alicorns was both fascinating and disconcerting. Flurry pointed up into the branches, when the rest of the party looked up they found not only the missing ax head but a wide variety of tool pieces from just about every era.

____________________________________

Twilight noticed the branches spread out almost six feet at the sides in virtually every direction. When she moved around the tree, she found the shovel’s head in the branches. “Just what is going on? This doesn’t make any sense,” said Twilight, “what put these items here? How did they manage such a feat? Why here?”

______________________________

Daring just answered Twilight’s question by tapping around the tree, almost as if she was expecting to find a hollow portion of the tree. After a few minutes of knocking at the wood she found a pitch change so subtle the other ponies present, and Spike, didn’t notice it. To everyone’s surprise she actually, and genuinely, slid a piece of the tree away and reached in and grabbed something, her eyes flashed for a fraction of a second, before she brought up the strange creature.

The creature was about sixteen inches tall and looked like a cross between a jackrabbit and bull terrier with webbed digits on its hands and feet with a mouth full of sharp teeth. It was also dressed in a blue top hat, green trousers (that looked like they were just shy of being overalls), and red jacket.

“Everyone,” said Daring, “this is Al, he’s a gremlin. Also, the reason I had us all make such elaborate preparations. They’re inventive little pests, and happen to live in rather elaborate burrows beneath the ground. This tree is the central hub for the tunnels and part of it has been hollowed out.”

“I’ve read some mentions of them,” said Twilight, “they’re creatures believed to be nonexistent, a convenient excuse for why equipment breaks down. I didn’t expect to actually see one, ever.”

“Fluttershy,” said Daring as she handed the gremlin to the yellow pegasus, “could you talk with him? We need to make some arrangements to ensure him and his associates don’t continue to cause us any further issues.”

“Of course,” said Fluttershy as she accepted the small creature in her open hands, Al made a move to try and leave but stopped when he saw how Fluttershy was looking at him. He started chittering in what sounded like a mix of rabbit and dog barking; it took a few minutes for Fluttershy to get used to the creature's language, on account she was so unfamiliar with it. “He wants to know what we plan to do with the forest. He also says he doesn’t want their tunnels to be disturbed.”

“We just want to build a town in the clearing area,” said Daring, “I’m willing to concede all forest east of the clearing area for his kind to use as they wish, but chances are as the town grows we might have to expand north, south, and west.”

Fluttershy chittered with the creature for a few minutes before Fluttershy said, “He thinks his troupe will allow it, provided you keep your end of the agreement.”

“We’ll even outline the agreement in the town charter,” said Daring, “but we’ll likely have to explain the reasoning to all ponies that choose to make the area their home or place of business.”

“Most ponies won’t accept that the ‘agreement with gremlins’ thing,” said Twilight, “we’re going to have to have verifiable proof that gremlins are real, would one of his troupe be willing to come back to Ponyville? They would remain with Fluttershy during their stay and she could act as an intermediary during the research period. Of course, they would have to be on their best behavior, that means no messing with equipment without permission during their stay.”

Fluttershy chittered with the gremlin for a few more minutes and it chittered back a rather long stream, “He’s not sure, he’s pleased you’re asking about a member of the troupe being interested in leaving the area for another, he also finds the terms amicable. He’ll go and talk with the troupe leader.” She set the creature down and it scurried away to a well-hidden tunnel hole next to the tree.

“All right,” said Daring, “how about Fluttershy and Shining stay here, Fluttershy to liaise the gremlins and Shining to keep her safe in case things get a little too scary. The rest of us will head back the clearing to get started on outlining a town layout.”

With that, the rest group left Shining and Fluttershy to deal with their portion while the rest of the team headed back to the clearing. Daring was thankful she thought ahead to bring items that weren’t all that hard to replace and she could easily get by without. If they had taken her machete that would have been a whole other story, of course, she had since dedicated it to a museum after she finished the penultimate of her book series.

Author's Notes:

So yeah, you finally get a look at where the town is going to go. I name it in the next chapter, I’m sure some of you will get a kick out of it.

Anyone who wants to play around in this world is welcome to it, just let me know your intentions so I can help clear up some details you are wondering about or would like to know more on.

And yeah, gremlins. I have an encyclopedia of mystical creatures I bought back in 2012 which I used for pulling the description of gremlins. Fun fact, the word gremlin is derived from the old English word gremian, which means to vex. Now, let the theories as to how gremlins came to exist in Equestria begin. While in the official cannon of MLP: FiM gremlins haven’t been confirmed, I even had Twilight make mention of thinking they weren’t real in the chapter, I thought they would be a decent fit for the world. The description of the appearance of gremlins was taken almost one-to-one from the Encyclopedia. Here’s the book I got their description from, in my copy gremlins are on page 252 (Next to Great Tiger and Green Man)