(WARNING!!!! Chapter does contain nudity, as well as adult situations. No actual sex, but yet pretty close!)

How do most adventures begin? Well, they usually begin in the least likely of ways. Other times though, they begin on days that start just like any other days.

Like most days when I was home, I was sitting up in my office. I was hard at work on paperwork, although I was almost done for the day. It was late Spring in Equestria, and it was a time of cleaning, as well as getting everything ready to transition to Summer. Suddenly though, there cam a knock on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Daring walked in. She was wearing another of my T-shirts, her hair was in its usual ponytail, and she looked a bit sleepy. I also saw that she was holding a large binder as well.

"Oh, hey Babe, what's up?"

She walked over to the desk, and set the binder down on it. "Mmm, Hey Stud, and I finally figured it out!"

"Figured what out?"

"The adventure that we can go on! I finally figured out where we're going, and what we're going to find!"

I was very interested. "Oh? Well then by all means, do tell! Where are we going Daring?"

She smirked a bit, before opening the binder. In it, I saw a lot of other folders, as well as maps with a number of things scribbled on them, not to mention a few aerial photographs.

"Well Stud, we're heading off into the jungles of the Undiscovered West to find this!" She held up a rough sketch of what appeared to be an ancient book. It was very ornate, and seemed to have been very beautiful.

"Wow, what is that Daring?"

"This, is the ORIGINAL Pony-Sutra! Legend says that it was housed in the Lunar Shrine of Romance, which was an ancient temple to Briana, the Goddess of Love, Life, Fertility, and the Moon. The temple was long ago lost to time, but now I think that I might have a guess as to where it is!

I looked at her a bit confused. "Um, what now? Are you being serious Daring? Because this sounds like a joke."

She shook her head. "Yeah, I KNOW that this sounds like it might be a joke, but let me assure you that it's NOT! If we could find the Lunar Shrine of Romance, then we have a real shot at locating the original Pony-Sutra!"

"And when you say 'Pony-Sutra', do you mean that book that tells all about how to have sex?"

She nodded. "Yes! And right now the Canterlot Library is offering a LOT of money if the original copy can be found!"

I was still a bit confused. "Yes, I can understand that part of it, but how do you know where the shrine is? I mean, I thought that it was lost to time!"

"It was. However, I was able to do a lot of digging in the Caterlot Library, and I was able to find a number of old maps, which I then cross-referenced with more modern maps, until finally I came up with what I think is the shrine's location!" She pointed to it on a map. "Right here, way out here in the jungle!"

I looked at the map. "Yeah, but Daring, that's the Undiscovered West! Almost NONE of it has ever been mapped before! Plus, we have no idea what's out there!"

She smirked at me. "Ooh, is little Leopard chicken? Such a mighty war hero scared of the jungle?"

I glared at her. "Daring, listen to me, and listen to me very carefully. No, I'm NOT scared of the Undiscovered West. However, what I AM scared of is what could be IN the Undiscovered West! I have not survived for as long as I have by being stupid! I like to know what I'm getting into before I just dive in. In my experience, don't be afraid of the dark, be afraid of what's IN the dark! Because my dear Daring, fear is just a word; Reality is always much, MUCH worse!"

Daring looked back up at me. She knew that I had some pretty valid points. It wasn't called the "Undiscovered West" for nothing, and even she didn't know what could be out there. "You, do have some good points Stud, however, there really IS no way of knowing what could be out there unless we just go there. Plus, I'm a professional adventurer, and you ARE a professional career soldier, so between us, and assuming that we take all of the necessary essentials with us, I think that we should be ok."

I sighed. "Well, as long as we know what we're doing, then sure. I'll come help you find the Lunar Shrine of Romance!"

"Really, you will?"

I nodded. "Yeah, why not? I've needed to get away for a bit, so why not head out into the unexplored jungle right into the jaws of possibly certain death with my favorite action-hero wife?"

Daring hugged me, and then rubbed her nose against mine. "Mmm, thanks Stud, you're the best! Even though you CAN be sarcastic at times, I still love you! However, we will have to wait a bit longer, as I DO need some more time to not only finish my latest book, but also to finish planning out our journey as well."

"Sure, take all the time that you need Babe. We DO want to get this right, and we don't want to die!"

She kissed me on the nose. "Yep, so I'll do all the preparing work, as well as finishing my book!" Daring then walked over to her desk on her side of the office, and sat down to continue working. (Eventually, we split my office in half. I got one side, while she got the other. She could have had her own office, but yet she INSISTED that she wanted to stay close to me!)

Both of us were wondering what our adventure was going to be like.

Eventually, we were ready. At about 4am on May 20th, 2030, Daring and I both got up to go get ready. Thanks to Andy, he'd helped me put together a proper adventuring outfit.

As I stood in front of a mirror, I pulled on my green button-up collar shirt with cargo pockets, green cargo shorts, a black belt, gray wool socks, and black hiking boots. I also had a pith helmet just like Daring's! For gear, I also brought a compass, my Bowie knife, my trusty Glock 9mm, a few extra mags, a canteen, a small filter pump for filtering water, a camera, and a notebook.

Daring was wearing her usual adventurer's outfit with her pith helmet, and she also brought her revolver, whip, a canteen, compass, knife, and her notebook. We also packed a small bag with a small tent, 2 small sleeping bags, a tarp, some cord, emergency rations, some flares, flashlights, spare batteries, 2 rain ponchos, and a first aide kit. EVERYTHING was made to fit into the bag, which was no bigger than a breadbox! We would take turns carrying it, and soon we were ready to go.

It was about 5am when we turned around to face Dash and Spitfire. Daring and I wrapped our arms around each other.

"Well guys, how do we look?"

Spitfire sighed. "Well, you guys sure look like you're ready to go off on your BIG adventure!"

Dash smirked. "Yeah, totally! And I'm REALLY digging the matching outfits! What, couldn't branch out from your wife Stud?"

I rolled my eyes a bit. "Dash, I REALLY liked Daring's outfit, so I patterned mine after hers! Plus, pith helmets are CLASSIC adventuring hats! Who am I to touch a classic? Plus, they're not QUITE matching outfits. Daring's boots are brown, and mine are black!"

Dash looked again. "Yeah, sorry. It's just SO hard to tell at 5am when the sun isn't even up yet!"

"How long do you think that you two will be gone?" Spitfire asked.

Daring shrugged. "It could take anywhere between a month, to the rest of the summer potentially! Where I think that we're going is WAY out there in the Undiscovered West!"

Spitfire looked at me worriedly. "Just, be careful out there. Promise me that you'll keep each other safe. If I lost you Stud, I'd be DEVASTATED!"

"Yeah, so would I Stud! You risked life and limb to save me, and if I lost you now, I'd NEVER forgive myself!"

I walked over and hugged them both, and I wrapped my wings around them as well. "I know Girls, and we'll be ok. We won't be taking ANY unnecessary risks, and we'll be back just as fast as we can!"

They both kissed me on the cheek. "I know, but still, please be careful!"

"I will Spitsy!"

"And I KNOW that you'll love this Stud. I've been on a few adventures with Daring before, and ALL of them were super-awesome!"

"I'll bet that they were Dash. I KNOW that this will be an adventure that I'll NEVER forget!"

Little did I suspect though just how right I already was. I didn't want to say anything at the time, but the truth was I had a funny feeling that something was going to happen on our adventure. I REALLY should have listened to my gut, as Life was soon to give me 2 VERY good reasons that I should have!

After a quick breakfast, Daring and I pulled regular clothes on over our adventuring ones, and we boarded the train from Ponyville, heading for the Smokey Mountains.

Once we arrived there about 3 hours later, we disembarked from the station, and once we reached the foot of the mountains, we began to prepare for our journey West. Close by where we were standing though was a sign. "WARNING!!!! You are now leaving Equestria! All territory beyond this sign is unknown! Barely any of it has been explored! Enter at your own risk, but don't! There is NOTHING out there that is worth your life!" At the bottom of the sign was a skull and crossbones.

I turned to Daring. "Um, are we REALLY sure that we want to do this Daring?"

She sighed. "Yes! Plus, I know for a fact that they only put up this sign to end liability lawsuits. You wouldn't BELIEVE how many Ponies went in there, got hurt, and then tried to sue Equestria over it! So in response, they put up this sign, and now you can't sue if you get hurt."

I nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess that that makes sense. But still, I'm feeling nervous just heading into the unknown like this."

"Come ON Stud! Where's your sense of adventure? You're LITERALLY about to boldly go where no Human has EVER gone before! In fact, very few PONIES have even come here either! We're both about to make history with this trip!"

"Yeah, and I'm sure eager to go, but yet I'd rather be alive in explored territory, than dead with my picture in the history books! But yet, nothing that's worth doing is EVER easy, and you only live once, and we're most likely NEVER going to get the chance to do this again, so what the heck, let's do this thing!"

"That's the spirit Stud!"

With that, we both stepped past the sign, and walked off into the unknown.

For the next day or so, we mostly just foraged on ahead through the thick growth in front of us. It was unusual because it seemed to be a mixture of both forest and jungle. It was also hot and steamy, although thankfully there were no mosquitoes!

"Do you even know where we're going Daring?"

"Yes. We have to find this small range of mountains." She pointed to it on the map. "At the base of the mountain in the center is the shrine. Also, if my research is to be believed, we may also find the ruins of the civilization of the Marakeets, which were the tribe that used to inhabit that region."

"And, any ideas on how far away from that we are?"

Daring shrugged. "It's anypony's guess at this point, but if I had to guess, we could be looking at a month of travel ahead of us if we walk!"

"So then, why don't we just fly?"

"We will, but only at certain points. It's all too easy to get yourself lost around here, and head off in the COMPLETE wrong direction!"

"And, do we have our bearings yet so that we can fly?"

"Unfortunately, no. I know that we're heading off in the right direction, but we're just not quite there yet."

I sighed. "And what are the chances that we run into Dr. Caballeron and his goons, or even Ahuizotl and his cats out here?"

Daring shrugged. "Hopefully slim to none, but yet with them, you never know! However, I say that we won't, because most Ponies have never even HEARD of the Lunar Shrine of Romance, and since the Pony Sutra is already SO popular in some regions, there's already a huge market for it, thus keeping prices low. Both of these factors combined make a pretty good case for us NOT meeting them here!"

I nodded. "Yes, but still, it never hurts to be too careful, ESPECIALLY when dealing with Dr. Goon-Brains and Overgrown Dog-Monkey!"

Daring blinked at me before bursting out laughing! "HA HA HA!!!!! That's HILARIOUS Stud! I've NEVER thought of them like that, but yet you're right! Hang on, I'm writing that down! I HAVE to use that in the book for our adventure here!" She grabbed her notebook, and began to write.

I laughed a bit myself. "Eh, no problem Daring. Glad that I was able to help."

Once she was done, she put her notebook back into one of her pockets, before we pressed on.

One morning, maybe 2 weeks later, I woke up when the sun began to stream into our tent. I was lying nude on top of my sleeping bag, (It was so hot that we just slept nude, and oftentimes on top of our sleeping bags) and Daring was lying on top of me. She was snoring a bit, as well as drooling slightly as well.

I leaned up, and began to nuzzle her a bit. She opened an eye, and looked at me. "Mmm, hey Stud. Is it morning?"

"Yep, it's morning." I looked at my watch. "It's about 7:30 right now Ponyville Time."

Daring then opened both eyes, before giving me a few kisses. "Mmm, I love the mornings in the jungles. Even though they can be a bit noisy, they're their own kind of peaceful too."

I sighed. "Yeah, I know what you mean Babe. And when do you think that we should continue onward?"

"Oh, sometime soon I suppose. Firstly though, I'm gonna go for a shower, and then see about finding some food. Want to join me?"

"Um, what now? What shower? There's no showers out here!"

Daring smirked a bit. "Stud, you really lack imagination, don't you?" While Ponies were building showers in the cities, Nature already made them out here!" She then noted the look of confusion on my face, and then she took my hand. "Come on then, I guess that I'll just have to show you!"

After we exited the tent, we both took a quick moment to check our clothes that were hanging on branches close by, before Daring pulled me into the woods.

Even though we only went maybe 20 yards or so, it was rather painful with branches and other plants hitting our exposed skin and fur! Eventually though, we came to a small clearing.

"Right here Stud, THIS is where we're taking our shower!"

I looked, and what I saw made my jaw hit the ground! Maybe 25 feet from where we were standing was what looked to be a tall boulder field surrounded by trees and plants, and flowing down from the rocks was water! The water created a sort of waterfall, before falling down into a large collection pool, and then heading off down a smallish stream. The entire area looked like something out of a movie, but yet here it was, real before my very eyes!

"I HAVE to get a picture of this place!" I then ran back, grabbed the camera that I'd brought to document the trip, and snapped a few pictures before Daring told me to put down the camera, and join her. I hung it on a nearby branch, and went over to her.

Daring then took me by the hand over to the waterfall. The base of it was rocks, and when she stepped under it, it really did look like she was taking a shower!

"Come on Stud! You gonna join me or what?"

"Coming!" I then stepped under the water as well. To my surprise, the water was warm, almost hot! "Huh, must be a hot spring close by that's feeding this waterfall."

Once we'd rinsed off for a bit, Daring then dove into the pool and began to swim around in it. I followed her a few moments later.

"Wow Daring, you REALLY swim like an otter! Why didn't you swim like this in Las Pegasus?"

"Because Stud, it's MUCH easier to swim in a pool like this than it is to swim in the ocean!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I guess that you're right." I swam around a bit like she was doing.

"Wow, and you really swim just like an otter too Stud!"

"Really? That's what Dash told me once when we swam......on a beach.........in Las Pegasus....." I had a sudden thought.

Daring looked at me. "What? What is it Stud?"

"I just realized something Daring. On that same beach where we got married, just after the Battle of Las Pegasus, Dash, myself, and a number of others spent some shore leave there! Dash and I swam in close to the same spot where we did when we got married!"

"What?! Are you sure Stud?"

"Positive! We took a few photos, so I'll have to show you when we get back so that we can compare them to the wedding photos, but I'm almost CERTAIN that it was the same beach!"

Daring shrugged. "Maybe so Stud, maybe so. In the meantime though, let's just swim a little while longer."

I nodded, and went back to swimming with my wife. Both of us knew that what we were doing was a bit naughty though. We were skinny dipping, in a hot-spring pool, in the middle of the jungle, in the middle of nowhere! Just anypony could have seen us, but yet there was nopony there TO see us!

Once we finished swimming, we got out, let the sun dry us off, before heading back to grab our clothes, and once we put them back on, we broke down our small camp. We also marked our location on a modern map so that we could find that hot-spring again if we wanted too, and after eating a breakfast of jungle fruit, we moved on.

For the next few days, it was more travelling through the forests and jungles of the Undiscovered West. I was able to take pictures of a number of cool rock formations, beautiful forested valleys, crystal clear streams, a few lakes, and more than a few incredible sunsets. It was truly a journey of a lifetime, and I knew that even with the pictures, aside from Spitfire and Dash, very few, if any, would EVER believe me when I told them the stories of this adventure!

Also during the course of the adventure, on some nights, Daring and I would begin to put together the storyboard for the book that would follow the adventure. We both jotted notes, and worked through the timeline.

"So, what's the book going to be called Daring?"

"Most likely, 'Daring Do and the Search for the Lunar Shrine of Romance.' And for this adventure, her sometimes partner, Mac, came along with her, as she needed his tracking skills."

I nodded. "Sure, that makes sense. And maybe we can use some of the photos that I've taken for the pictures in the book. Also, are Daring and Mac romantically involved, or not?"

"Yeah, that might work for the pictures, and no, they're not. For now at least, Daring and Mac MIGHT be considered 'friends with benefits', partners for sure, and friends as well."

"And how have the fans been reacting to Mac?"

Daring shrugged. "Eh, well it is a bit too early to tell, but for now at least, most of them seem to be reacting at least somewhat positively to him. The truth is, for the longest time a number of fans have been requesting that Daring Do have a partner, and now that I gave them Mac, they seem to like him well enough. I mean, he's only been in 2 book so far, and even then, not in a major role. Now though, 'Lunar Shrine of Romance' will be his first main character appearance alongside Daring Do."

"And, I'll be helping you write this book, right?"

She gave me a funny look. "Um, duh! You're IN the story, aren't you? Just under a different name. Of COURSE you'll be helping me write it! I've seen your work with those war diaries that you wrote, and I must admit, you're a pretty good writer too!"

I was stunned. If a multi-millionaire author said that I was a "pretty good writer", then that was some pretty high praise!

"Wow, um, I don't know what to say Daring!"

She smirked a bit. "Then don't say anything, just kiss me you Big Goof!"

Laughing a bit, I complied. Suddenly though, I broke the kiss.

"Hey, why'd you do that Stud?"

"Because, I just thought of something Daring."

"And that is?"

"Today's date. Today is June 8th, 2030."

"And, what's that got to do with anything?"

I smiled a bit. "Because, exactly one year ago today, at 5:25am, the Battleship Express rolled out of the Everfree Forest for the first time! We Humans have now been in Equestria for one year now!"

Daring hugged me. "Well then, congratulations on your one-year anniversary Stud!"

I hugged her back. "Thanks Daring. Oh, and how much farther is it to the shrine?"

Daring looked at her map again. "Actually, we're only about a day or so away now, assuming of course that this map is accurate."

"Well, I for one am REALLY hoping that it is! I mean, we've been out here for over a month now!" (And we'd also come within a half-mile of New Vegas at one point, but we never saw it.)

Daring nodded slowly. "Yeah, I know Stud, but yet as you yourself said, 'Nothing that's worthwhile doing is EVER easy!' so I guess we'll just see when we get there."

I nodded slowly, and then we pressed on.

Sure enough, about a day or so later, towards sunset, we reached the base of the mountains that were on the map. A stream flowed through the area, and everything was covered with grass, vines, other jungle plants, and of course trees.

We both began to look around. "Well, there ARE a lot of ruins here Daring, but let's just hope that none of them are the shrine, as I REALLY want to find that intact!"

"No kidding Stud! However, I think that we.......STUD, LOOK!!!!!!"

I turned when she yelled, and I looked to where she was pointing. When I did, my jaw hit the dirt. There, at the foot of the mountains, partially hidden by growth, but still visible, was what appeared to be the entrance to an ancient shrine! There was a flight of stairs leading up, and the actual entrance itself was at the top, surrounded by statues. For its age, it seemed to be in pretty good condition.

"Is that it?!"

"YES!!!!"

"The Lunar Shrine of Romance! IT IS REAL!!!!!" I began to snap a few pictures of the shrine, as well as the surrounding area.

Daring was writing more in her notebook. "And once they reached the ancient Shrine, Daring Do and Mac gazed upon it's ancient beauty....." she was muttering.

"So, do we just go up and in, or what?"

Daring shook her head. "No, we HAVE to wait for nightfall! The Shrine is ONLY safe to enter when the light of the moon is upon it. It doesn't matter which phase of the moon, but there HAS to be moonlight involved."

I shrugged. "Sure, whatever you say Babe. You're the expert here."

We both then sat down on some of the ruins, and began to talk for a while while we waited for the sun to finish going down.

Once it did, we got ready to head into the Shrine. We grabbed flashlights, spare batteries, rope, our guns, my knife, her knife, her whip, my camera, and her notebook, as well as a satchel and some plastic wrap to hold the original Pony Sutra if we did manage to find it. Once the moon was up, we began to walk towards the shrine.

"A waning gibbous. A good sign that Life smiles upon our quest!"

I shrugged. "I don't know there Daring, in my experience, Life is the biggest dick that EVER existed! She HATES me!"

Daring giggled a bit. "Maybe so Stud. HOWEVER!" She stopped me just before I started walking up the steps, "There are a few critical things that I need to tell you before we go!"

"Which are?"

"Well, legend has it that Briana, the Goddess of Love, Life, Fertility, and the Moon to the Marakeets, still protects her Shrine from intruders. According to the ancient manuscripts, she appears in the form of a Sphinx, and all those who enter must solve her riddle!"

"Huh. Yeah, THAT could be an issue, but is that it?"

"No. Most likely, there are ALSO hidden booby traps in there, not to mention snakes, spiders, bats, bugs, and possibly even jungle beasts!"

"Ok, first of all, booby traps are just a movie cliche. Secondly, I can also deal with snakes, bugs, I AM a bat! (at least BAT-Pony!), jungle beasts will meet my Glock, but yet I HATE spiders!"

Daring looked at me. "Wait, so you're a war hero, but you can't handle spiders?"

"Well, in my defense, Indiana Pones couldn't handle snakes!"

"Stud, those were just movies! THIS is real life!"

"Yeah? And as long as I can see them, and stomp on them, I can take care of any spiders! And there had better not be any damn tarantulas in there, or I'm DONE!!!!"

"Um.....Stud?"

"Yeah?"

"You.....probably do NOT want to look next to your foot right now!"

I glanced down, and to my horror, there sat a tarantula!

"Well.......shit. FORE!!!!!" I yelled as I brought back my foot, and sent the tarantula flying! It hit a nearby tree pretty hard before falling down, and it seemed to be dead. "Ok, tarantula down! I'm still here, and I didn't cry, scream, or piss myself, so I'm good!"

Daring just shrugged. "Eh, I do the same thing too. Good shot Stud!"

"Thanks!"

We then proceeded to climb the 39 stairs to the top of the shrine. As we reached the top, the light from the moon shone down upon the entrance. The entrance was guarded by 2 Sphinx statues, and there were the remains of torches as well. Beyond the entrance to the shrine, Daring and I could see that everything else about it was underground, or at least inside of the mountain that the shrine was built into.

"So....who enters the shrine first?"

Daring looked at me. "Well, you can if you want to Stud."

I glanced back, and Daring seemed to be breathing a little bit heavier, and she seemed to be sweating a bit. "Um, are you....ok Daring?"

"Huh? Yeah......I'm fine. Just....never mind, I'm fine!"

I was going to say something, but yet, I couldn't think of anything, so I just shut my mouth again. Just before I could enter the shrine though, Daring suddenly stopped me.

"Wait Stud! I forgot to mention something!"

"Ugh, what now Daring?"

"The texts that I found in the Canterlot Library also mentioned one other thing about this place. And this is just a legend, so I'm not saying that it's true; in fact, I think that it's just bogus myself, but according to legend, this place, thanks to the Goddess who supposedly inhabited it, because she was the goddess of love and fertility, as well as the moon, if a female were to enter the shrine under the moon, she would go into the deepest, most fertile heat that she's ever had. She'll cry out, begging to be filled with offspring."

"And let me guess, her cries, as well as her scent, attracts the closest male(s), and when they enter the shrine, they go into their deepest musk, then they have sex with, and impregnate said female?"

"Exactly! And if ANY of the male's sperm touches the female's womb, then a pregnancy is a 100% certainty! Also, the chances of multiple foals is VERY high. Twins are the most common, but some mares supposedly had up to quintuplets as well. Like I said though, I don't believe in this. Most likely it was some type of drug that the air in the shrine was laced with. However, this whole area's been deserted for centuries, if not millennia, so I'm pretty sure that we're safe!" ("Barring the tail end of my own heat cycle of course!" she muttered).

"What was that last bit Daring?"

"Nothing! I was just muttering about how my boots won't stay tied. But anyway, let's get in there, and get this done so that we can FINALLY go home!"

I nodded, and after walking up to the entrance, I became the first Human to EVER set foot inside of the Lunar Shrine of Romance!

Once we were inside, we had to use our flashlights. The air inside was somewhat musty, and there were dust and cobwebs about as well. Once past the entrance, the Shrine was seemingly a cave, but yet the walls, floor, and ceiling were made from cut stone, so it was almost like we were inside of a building, even though I knew that we were inside of the mountain.

Here and there, a few wall paintings existed as well. To my surprise though, most of them showed what appeared to be Ponies in VERY explicit sexual positions.

"Well, I certainly won't be taking any pictures of THESE!"

Daring giggled a bit. "Well, it IS called the 'Lunar Shrine of Romance' Stud, and it IS supposedly the home of the original copy of the Pony Sutra, so I guess that it does make sense that these would be here!"

"And, you feel like you're in heat and need to be bred yet Daring?"

She shook her head. "Nope! Like I said, that was just a bunch of hooey! Or some really strong drugs, I haven't decided yet!"

We both laughed a bit, before pressing on deeper into the tunnel. The passage that we were in seemed to be like a tunnel, and there were a few alcoves off to the side as well. Most of these were empty, but every now and again there would be a dusty urn, or perhaps a table.

At one point, I was about to enter a room that was filled with patterned floor blocks.

"Wait Stud! Booby trap!"

I groaned. "Daring, for the last time, that's just a movie cliche!" I then accidentally stepped on one of the blocks, unleashing a torrent of arrows from one wall to the opposite wall! "WHOA!!!!!" I jumped back a bit.

"Still just a movie cliche Stud?"

"Um....no, that was real!"

"Yeah, I know! However, I've seen things like this before. All we have to do is follow the patterns of the Sphinx, and we should be ok."

She stepped on the first pattern to prove that it was safe, and I followed her. We then made it across the room, and after dodging a few more arrows, a wall full of spears, a swinging blade, a room full of spikes, and a collapsing floor, we finally made it to the deepest part of the shrine.

When we reached it though, instead of being rundown like the rest of the Shrine's interior, it was completely clean! There were torches burning on the walls, lots of paintings were on the walls, as well as carvings on the floor, (all of them of a Sphinx) what looked to be an area for worship, and there were holes in the room's high ceiling that let moonlight in as well.

"Whoa, this place is huge, clean, impossible, AND amazing!"

"Yeah, assuming of course that nopony's here! I mean, how ELSE could this place still be this clean?"

"I don't know, Magic perhaps?"

Daring looked at me. "Well, normally I would say that you were crazy Stud, but now I can see your point." We then looked around, but yet we couldn't find any signs of life.

"Well, I guess that it's clean, AND lifeless, but yet where's the Pony Sutra? I thought that THAT'S what we came here for!"

Daring seemed to be sweating a bit, and she kept rubbing her shorts. At first, I thought that she was just scratching an itch, but then, I realized that she was about to scratch a DIFFERENT itch!

"Daring? Are you......in heat right now?"

She looked up at me. "Sort of, but not quite. Tonight's the last night of my cycle. I just.....need to make it through the night. It's NOT the Shrine, as I've been feeling a bit 'hot and bothered' all day! Just, find the Pony Sutra and secure it so that we can leave!"

"Yeah, but where IS it?"

"According to the manuscripts, It's at the Shrine of Briana, located at the front of this room. A sort of 'shrine within a shrine' if you will."

I looked, and sure enough, there it was. At the very front of the room was a huge golden statue of some sort of goddess. In front of the image though was what appeared to be a smaller version of the Lunar Shrine of Romance. It stood maybe 12 feet tall, and at the top I could see what looked to be a stone box.

"So, we just go up and get it?"

Daring looked at me. "No. Unfortunately, Daring Do got hurt by a spear trap, and while she's patching herself up, Mac volunteered to finish the mission with Daring's guidance." Daring then sat against a wall, and began to rub herself under her shorts.

I took off my pith helmet, wiped some sweat off my forehead, and then put it back on. "Mares", I muttered. I began to walk towards the front. "Just remember though Daring, if I die, then YOU get to be the one to explain to Dash and Spitfire what happened!"

"You're not gonna die Stud. There aren't any booby traps protecting the Pony Sutra. Why I don't know, but I really don't care right now."

I sighed, and with Daring guiding me, I slowly made my way up to the front.

The whole way there, I felt CERTAIN that something bad was going to happen, but yet it didn't. I made it to the front, and began to climb up the steps of the mini-shrine.

Once I reached the top, I reported back to Daring. "Well, there's certainly SOMETHING up here!"

"What do you see?"

"Well, the top of this sort of 'mini Shrine' is housing something underneath it. It looks like you lift the top off, but I'm scared to do that, as who knows what could happen!"

"I already told you Stud, NOTHING is going to happen!"

I still don't know why I trusted Daring's judgement. I removed the top, fully expecting to die at any second, but yet nothing happened. No explosions, no arrows, no poison-tipped darts, no collapsing roof, literally nothing.

"Is there anything inside the top Stud?"

"Um, yeah! There's a stone box!"

"Well, open it!"

I did so, and when I did, still nothing happened, and when I looked inside the box, my jaw literally hit the floor! There, in the bottom of the box, was the most ornately decorated book that I had ever seen! It's cover was made of what appeared to be gold, and it was inlaid with stones. I picked up the book and opened it. Sure enough, each and every page had Ponies in sexually explicit positions. Even though I was no archaeologist, I could tell that the book was indeed ancient.

"The ORIGINAL copy of the Pony Sutra! I FOUND IT!!!!!" And in all honest truth, I DID find it! Daring was too busy dipping into her honeypot, so she sent me, and I honest to goodness FOUND a long lost treasure! The ORIGINAL copy of the Pony Sutra!

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I FOUND IT!!!"

"Yeah, you did. HOWEVER, this was a TEAM effort, so we're splitting the money!"

I nodded. "Yeah, I know that! It was a team effort, but I still get the bragging rights for finding the book!"

Yeah, I found the book, but what I failed to do though was check behind me! Something was there, and it was NOT too happy to see me standing there!

While I was still taking pictures of the book, I took a selfie, and accidentally captured the creature standing behind me in it. I didn't notice it, but Daring did.

"Um, Stud?"

"Yeah?"

"You.....need to look behind you, RIGHT NOW!!!!"

I gave her a look. "Ugh, Daring, that's the OLDEST trick in the book! If I look, you're gonna fly up here and snatch the book, as well as my camera so that I have no proof that I found the book! No, it's NOT happening!"

"No Stud, I'm SERIOUSLY not joking right now! We've got BIG trouble, and it's literally standing less than a foot behind you right now!"

I sighed. "If it's another tarantula, I'll just kick it!" I then turned around to deal with the tarantula, only to find that it wasn't a tarantula! I was staring right into 2 glowing golden eyes, and a mouth full of sharp teeth! The creature then moved forwards a bit, and I saw that it was a Sphinx! It had dark purple fur, a dull pink sort of mane, as well as lighter purple fur on its undersides and the end of its tail, huge wings, and a long tail, not to mention big paws, and a smirk. It wasn't quite as big as I originally thought, but it WAS easily 3 times my size, if not more!

"Oh shit, not a tarantula, SPHINX!!!!!" In my panic, I forgot how to fly! Instead, I grabbed the book, as well as my camera, before running back down the steps, and back across the room to Daring.

However, before we could escape, the Sphinx flew across the room, and blocked our escape! I looked around, but that door was the only way in or out! We were trapped!

I then heard the Sphinx laugh. "And where do you think that YOU'RE going you two? I'll tell you where, NOWHERE!!!!!! At least, not until I've had my 'fun' with you!"

The Sphinx then began to laugh again, and it was at this moment that Daring and I knew, we were most likely screwed!

Uh oh, this isn't good! Leopard went out to have an adventure with Daring Do, and now, they're trapped by the Sphinx who guards the Lunar Shrine of Romance! (Yes, Briana IS the same Sphinx from "Daring Done?" Just to clarify!) What does the Sphinx want? Will it let Daring and Leopard go? Are the Rumors about the Shrine true? Will Daring be leaving the shrine with foals in her womb? And how will they ever make it back home again to tell the tale? Well, normally, I would say, "Skip the next chapter, as it's a "0.5 EXPLICIT!!!!" chapter, but yet this time I can't.

Even though that chapter DOES contain explicit sex scenes, it ALSO contains information that is VITAL to the story later on! Please don't skip it, as it IS important to the story as a whole. Just try and stomach it, and I'll have the story back to normal in Chapter 20. I PROMISE!!!!

In the meantime though, comments, feedback, questions, as well as spreading the word about this story, are ALWAYS appreciated, and I'll see you all in Chapter 19.5!

ScarFox out for now!