Daring Do and Rainbow Dash and the Trials Of Temptation
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Chapter Two
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The sky was bright blue, the sun was low in the sky, and there was barely a cloud to be seen. It was, by all accounts, a perfect sunrise - the sort only ever really talked about in stories and tales, never seen by mortal eyes.

Rainbow Dash's mood was sour. The sky said "perfect morning", but the weather schedules said "Gray and drizzly", and, wouldn't you know, she had a shift that morning. Carrying clouds half a dozen at a time from the weather office, Dash began her long, hard work, covering the sky with a layer of thick, white clouding, stretching as far as the eye could see. Dash was not happy.

Approximately 15 minutes and a few dozen clouds later, Dash landed on her small cloud island. Work was hard, just a little break would do her good, then she could get back to work refreshed. Can't work tired, don't want to accidentally cause another storm. That's how she justified it to herself, anyway, in reality her legs ached a little from the carrying, and her wings were still kinda stiff from a bad night's sleep. Screw the work, rest is more important.

So Dash landed, face down, on the cloud marked with a little X. Her cloud - it was almost indistinguishable from the others, but this one was hers. Hers to sleep on, hers to hug, hers to let soak up the tears of a particularly lonely night, but most importantly right now, hers to hide things in. Things like her notebook and quill.

Rainbow Dash wasn't addicted to writing, she could stop any time she wanted - she just didn't want to stop. She had ideas flowing through her body, and storylines flowing through her mind. Rainbow Dash was feeling very much like an author.

Letting the blue skies above and the green fields below melt away, Dash delved back into her fantasy land, dipping her quill into the secret ink, and penning "Chapter 2" in her very best almost-legible scrawl.

The daring duo awoke the following morning, the dangers of the forest too afraid to challenge them even while sleeping. The fire had long since burnt out, and the fishing rod lay spent and useless - they left it where it stood. They couldn't spare the weight anyway, it was a long journey back to Canterlot, and it would leave even the two athletic, adventurous ponies tired and in need of rest.

The sun was peeking over the horizon as the two took to the air, beating their mighty wings in unison and easily matching pace, tearing through the sky at speeds most Pegasi could barely dream of. They were not most Pegasi. They were amazing, and adventurous, and nothing could keep them down.

Rainbow Dash paused - none of the actual books had been so lathered with praise for either Do or her companion for the adventure. On the other hoof, her companion had never been as straight up awesome as herself. That explained that, then, she thought, and continued.

The flight was long and grueling, and several times one of the two almost gave in and stopped for a rest, but the other's continued diligence spurred them on, keeping pace and leaving the ground beneath them a blur. Daring Do's impeccable sense of direction kept them on track, until eventually they spotted Canterlot rising up over the horizon, the now setting sun silhouetting it and creating a beautiful, picturesque scene that would be perfect to focus on were this tale ever illustrated, or turned into a picture book for little foals or something else it was deserving of.

Dash looked up again - pictures were a good idea. She should look in to whether she could get pictures drawn before it was published, or whether she was going to have to learn how to draw herself. She was certain she'd be spectacular at it, as she was with everything else of worth, but it sounded like a lot of effort. Dash stifled a yawn - thinking about hard things too much always made her feel sleepy. She slumped forward as her eyes fluttered closed, covering her blessed manuscript with her body as she fell into a light slumber.

"Raaaaaaaain-bowwwww? Raaaain bow? Rainbow!" heard Dash sweeping in on the breeze, shaking her awake. Cloud Kicker, one of the other members of the weather team working that morning, was calling for her. Stuffing the glorious papers back into her cloud, Dash turned around and greeted the irritable mare.

"Rainbow, were you sleeping? Again?"

"I was power resting! I can't work tired!"

"You haven't worked at all, you covered half a field. Miles away from Ponyville. And then slept on it while you drifted into my patch."

Rainbow Dash considered the possibility that she had fallen asleep on the job. She really aught to stop taking morning shifts - one of the advantages of having a high up position in the weather patrol was being able to veto your schedules. One of the disadvantages of being stricken with lazyitus is that vetoing your schedules takes effort.

"I... was... uh." Dash stammered, "I was just testing ya! Seeing how you'd react! You passed the test, well done! I'll just be going now!"

Dash paused - her cloudscape had been surrounded by Cloud Kicker's own cloud sculpting, leaving it trapped. "Hey, you couldn't let my clouds free could you?"

"You want me to undo hours of work so you can drag this set of clouds 5 minutes to your area rather than dragging a different set of clouds 5 minutes to your area?"

"Uh... yes"

"No."

This worried Rainbow Dash. Her incredible works were stuck in a cloud in the middle of Ponyville, and she had no way of rescuing them without risking being uncovered before the time was right. No matter, she would simply have to come back later to retrieve her things, and nopony would be any the wiser.

Quite some time later, after several power-naps and mega-breaks, Dash finished her work for the day, and found herself scanning the cloudscape for her trusty storage cloud. Even with her sharp eyes, finding a particularly shaped cloud in a plane made of clouds was problematic. What the hay had she been thinking using a cloud for storage?

Dash twisted and turned looking for the telltale X, swooping through the cloud layer more and more frantically until finally, she saw it, a corner of her paper sticking out of the side and alerting her to its presence, as if fate itself was guiding her hoof.

Diving at it and meeting it in a hug, Dash kissed the top of her little cloud and pulled at it until it broke free. The ideas coursing through her veins needed release, and quickly. She feverishly tore open the cloud and took the quill into her mouth, beginning to write once more.

"Fan-tastic, girls! With this, we can finally understand why the ancient tribes died out! History owes both of you a great debt!" exclaimed the shouty professor as he accepted the statuette, marvelling at how it sparkled in the air and reflected the light. "However, much as it pains me to ask, we need your help once more, on the most urgent of matters! A group of adventurers recently discovered the location of the previously lost Temple of Hedonics. They managed to send smoke signals a week ago, but we haven't heard from them since. Worse, their message spoke of a terrible oncoming storm which threatened to destroy the temple in just over a week!"

Dash and Do looked at each other - they knew where this was going. It was going to be dangerous, dirty, and life-threatening. They both grinned at same time - it was their kind of work.

"Girls, nobody else can get there fast enough to take the Trials of Temptation and recover the one true treasure, said to be able to control the hearts of even the strongest stallion! You must go quickly, there's no time to lose!"

Moments later, their packs refilled with food, water, and essential supplies, the duo took to the air, their aching wings drowned out by the thought of new adventure and fame. The wind whistled around them, and if you listened hard enough, you could make out words on the breeze: "Rainbow Dash, what are you doing up there? It's been hours!"

The purple gales shook their manes and rippled through their tails as they flew, straddling the speed of sound and leaving a trail of dark smoke and rainbows. The sweet, literate voice of the air surrounded them as it continued its questioning - what in the wide world of Equestria could take so long up in the clouds?

Dash paused. Wind didn't have a colour, certainly not purple. Wind certainly didn't smell like lavender, and much as she loved flying, the wind had never made her feel warm and fuzzy inside just from hearing it whistle through her ears. She looked up - the sun had passed along the sky, her hours of writing leaving her in that time between day and night. Twilight.

Oh Celestia, Twilight was shouting at her. "Er, nothing, Twi, just... Maintenance!"

"Oh, how fascinating, I've always wondered how you kept the clouds working! Could I take a look? I promise I won't be too distracting!" she yelled up, her horn aglow as her magic spell threw her voice up into the clouds.

"Uh, no, sorry Twi, trade secret!" Dash lied. Twilight could read all about it in a book if she wanted, but pulling this cloud apart would reveal far too many secrets she wasn't willing to share.

"Oh... kay, well, see you around, Dash! Good luck with your stuff!" Twilight yelled back, barely hiding the suspicion from her voice. Dash waited until Twilight was surely gone, and sighed in relief, putting her pen back onto her writing surface and continuing.

"Wow, Dash, this temple is amazing!" Do shouted over the strong winds of the incoming storm, their faces lit only by the occasional nearby strike of lightning. The temple lay before them, huge struts of stone holding up a massive engraved building, each illustration probably showing some completely unknown part of ancient culture. And a great storm rolling in from a kingdom with more lax weather laws was poised to wipe it off of the map. Do's face hardened - archaeology was her passion, and seeing so much potential work destroyed only made her want to save what she could. The great treasure of this ancient culture was the goal - the legends spoke of trials designed to test the resolve of the team attempting to take the treasure for themselves. Only the purest of hearts would be allowed.

Acting quickly, the two ran inside the temple, down into the unlit depths of the sanctuary. Taking one step too many, the two heard a grinding sound as the step beneath them slid downwards under their weight, triggering a trap! Great stone doors slammed shut on either side of them, trapping them!

Do cleared her throat and began to talk. "Ah-ha, Dash, gotcha! I knew you were up to something! Gimme a look!"

The dark room, and distant sounds of a raging storm, were ripped from Dash's mind as Twilight pulled the notepad from her hooves in an unstoppable red glow. The colour ran out of Dash's face.

"Twilight! I can explain! It's not what it looks like!"